Tommy Lee Jones is an incredibly versatile actor whose career has shown a remarkable evolution. He delighted audiences with his deadpan humor (Batman Forever, Men in Black), then turned humor on its head with heartbreaking roles in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and In the Valley of Elah. In recent years, the 61-year-old from Texas who once worked on an oil rig has found roles that bring out his best. Once known for the deadpan delivery of a joke, Jones has settled into a different self—his gentle, wise self—using that straight face and few words to convey an immeasurable sadness, thoughtfulness, and depth of feeling. It is this tender power that he brings to Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men—a violent, terrifying film that would leave audiences cold and adrift if Jones weren't there to anchor it.
In a world where evil and abject cruelty are driving forces, where twisted justice begets monumental suffering, Jones brings warmth and a few moments of peace. When he's on screen, we know we're safe for a little while. Bell is a man struggling with changing times, as he watches the crimes that unfold in the wide-open country of West Texas in summer 1980. His place in law enforcement was handed down from his father, who didn't even have to carry a gun. Now the desert is awash in blood, and Bell has seen enough torture and torment for many lifetimes.
Jones is a master of contradictions: Bell is brave, smart, and good, and he does everything right, yet he's completely outmatched. He's a beaten man, yet he has nerve and a daring, if weakened, sense of hope. He sees the world for what it is, although he blinks and flinches. Everything you can't find in the desert you can find in his tired eyes. Jones has found a subtlety of clout and control that we can hardly see coming but that nearly takes our breath away.
Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for a SAG Award for "The Good Old Boys" in 1996. He is currently also nominated as a member of the "No Country for Old Men" ensemble.
—Anna Bengel